Be Your Love
by jessicuhxoo
Summary: What happens when two best friends finally realize their love for each other? AU, mostly oldrival with a bit of ikari and poke.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or the songs I used. Just my OCs Here is another one shot! AU of course :)**

* * *

It was a long and hot summery day in Pallet Town. It's been two weeks since school let out for vacation, but with this heat it felt endless. The beach was crowded. Even the hotel pools were full of lively people. It was like everyone wanted to cool down or just avoid the heat.

There were people in the ocean, people on the docks eating lunch or having ice cream. Children's laughter and screams filled the air. Even family's loud arguments could be heard. But with all of the liveliness going on, there were some people who did not pay attention to what was around them, but instead what was _in front_ of them.

One word. Couples.

There are specific kinds of couples though. There are ones who display disgusting amounts of public affection, and then there were ones who held hands and did adventurous things. They were simple and cute, and as people call it these days, "relationship goals."

There were even the not so perfect couples who fight in public, or the couples that are out and about together who didn't have the same intimacy or "spark" but were too afraid to admit it out loud, so they stayed together.

One couple though stuck out completely. Just sitting on a bench enjoying each other's company and the crisp, salty air the beach brought. They were a fairly new couple, and by fairly new meaning they had only been dating for a couple of months or so.

There was a silence between the two as they stared out into the distance of the ocean. Gary could tell there was something on his girlfriend's mind, so he decided to voice his thoughts.

"What's on your mind, Hannah?"

She bit down on her bottom lip, trying to find the words and courage to ask him what's been pondering her thoughts for the past couple of days.

"I'm sorry. I was just wondering. Um, are you doing anything next Saturday?" Hannah stuttered nervously.

Gary raised an eyebrow at her curiously, while leaning back on the bench.

"Nothing at the moment. Why what's up?" he asked her, stretching his arms over his head and then bringing them back down, placing one of them on the back bench behind where she sat.

Hannah smiled at him to ease her nerves, placing a gentle hand on top of his.

"Because I want you to meet my parents," she spoke boldly.

Gary was taken aback by her comment. He turned away from her looking out into the distance, not really knowing how to respond.

"I don't know… I'm not really good at first impressions. What if they end up hating me?" he said, voicing his doubts.

It wasn't that Gary was hesitant about meeting parents. He felt hesitant about meeting _her_ parents because who knows what will happen tomorrow or even the next day?

She laughed at how stupid he sounded, nudging him playfully.

"Are you kidding? They're going to love you!" she said without a hint of doubt.

He chuckled slightly, his arm now on her shoulder pulling her closer to him.

"Oh yeah? How can you be so sure?" he asked flirtatiously.

Hannah was quiet for a few seconds before looking into his eyes.

"Because I love you," she spoke softly, batting her eyelashes at him.

Gary felt his mouth go dry and kept his mouth in a thin line. He didn't know what to think or how he even feels. What does love even feel like? He looked into her eyes and saw a storm full of emotions. Hope. Fear. And love?

"I love you too," he responded with slight hesitation.

She smiled genuinely, leaning her forehead against his and he grimaced down at her weakly, sort of relieved that she didn't hear the hesitation in his voice. He leaned down placing his lips against hers in a sweet kiss.

* * *

A couple of days went by since that very faithful day. Gary was at his neighbor/best friend's house hanging off the side of her bed, completely avoiding Hannah's calls.

Leaf was sitting beside him on her bed, eating pickles out of a jar while watching her friend suffer miserably not knowing what he should do in his situation.

"I really don't understand why you have been avoiding her all week, Gary. I thought you guys were in love. What's up with you?" she asked with a mouthful, rolling her eyes slightly.

Gary let out a heavy sigh, lifting his hanging head to stare at Leaf.

"I thought we were in love too. I was waiting for just the right time to tell her that I do love her and then when we finally say it, it just… it doesn't feel right. You know?" he said, hanging his head back down, feeling exasperated.

"Maybe it's just the nerves. After all, she is your first love," Leaf spoke again, after swallowing another bite of her pickle.

Gary was quiet for a bit as if he was processing her words. He sat up slowly, glancing at her with a hopeful look.

"So do you think I should call her back?"

"Is that not obvious?" she said, biting off another piece of her pickle.

He frowned at her stealing the pickle she had in her hand, and taking a bite of it.

"So what should I even say to her?" he asked her, accidentally spitting when he spoke.

Leaf gave him a look of disgust and placed the pickle jar on her nightstand, wiping her face in the process.

"What do I look like? The love doctor or something? Call her up and apologize for being an ass and hope she forgives you," she told him sarcastically.

Gary rolled his eyes at her, finishing his bit of the pickle. His eyes lit up when an idea came to mind.

"Maybe I should write her a song! And you could help me!" he stated with a wide grin on his features.

She frowned at the thought of helping him write a cheesy love song.

"Uh. No. I really don't want to help you write a love song for your girlfriend…" Leaf told him truthfully.

Gary scoffed at her, "Oh I see. You want me to be alone and miserable for the rest of my life. Thanks for that," he said turning over to hang off the side of her bed again, dramatically this time.

Leaf let out a chuckle and leaned back onto her headboard.

"Yeah, that's pretty much spot on actually."

"Now, I could assume that you hate me, but I know that you're really just jealous that I'm not writing a love song for you," Gary said condescendingly.

Leaf kicked him off the bed, making him groan from the sudden impact. She leaned over looking at the floor with an amused smile.

"Damn. You caught me. I'm totally raging with jealousy because I'm so in love with you," she admitted dryly.

Gary appeared from the floor, leaning against the bed with a lopsided, confident grin on his face.

"Yeah, I know. I tend to have that effect on girls," he said with a slight shrug.

Leaf started laughing at how ridiculous he sounded and tossed one of her pillows at him. He caught it swiftly and hit her repeatedly with it making her laugh even more. Soon enough a pillow fight had occurred with the both of them throwing shade at each other and laughing.

After they had calmed down a bit, Leaf finally spoke.

"So. Let's get started on your song."

Gary grinned sheepishly at her, "You've decided to help me?"

She nodded her head, "You better take advantage of it before I change my mind."

He chuckled before getting off of her bed, grabbing her acoustic guitar in the corner of the room. She sat on the edge of her bed now, hanging her legs off of it while he plopped down right next to her.

* * *

Hannah let out a huge sigh as she sat miserably on her couch. Her best friend Emily was over trying to console her, but from the looks of it things aren't going as she planned.

"I really don't know what to do anymore Em," Hannah said, breaking the silence between them. "It doesn't matter what I do, he just won't talk to me anymore. And I just don't know what I should do."

Emily frowned before folding her legs under her to get into a more comfortable position on the couch. She finally voiced her thoughts.

"Well, there's really not much you can do. Maybe it's time to—"

Hannah interrupted her friend before she could finish her sentence.

"I know what you're going to say! And I know that you are going to try to convince me that it's over between us just because he isn't returning my calls. I mean all I ever did was pour my soul out to him. No big deal or anything. And just because he's ignoring me doesn't mean it's over" she ranted on and on, trying to convince her friend. When in reality she was trying to convince herself it wasn't over.

Emily frowned, giving her friend an empathetic look.

"Hannah. Can you even hear yourself right now?" she asked after Hannah finished her rant.

She let out another loud sigh and stayed silent for a few minutes, coming to a realization that her friend might be right.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm just scared," she spoke softly.

Emily didn't say anything. She just scooted closer putting one of her arms around her friend to try and be there for her.

Hannah looked at her with a sad expression. "It's really over. Isn't it?" she asked, her voice cracking in the process.

* * *

Meanwhile Leaf was helping Gary write a love song for Hannah. It was going pretty well and they were actually almost done with the song.

"Let's try it from the top one more time," Gary spoke, running his fingers on the chords of the song they came up with. Once he started playing he looked at his best friend while she sang the first verse.

Leaf was looking down at the lyrics, softly singing the words they had written together. Her arm was slightly stretched out so Gary could see the lyrics as well.

Gary kept staring at her, slowly getting into the song. Soon enough he joined in harmonizing with her during the chorus.

She looked up with a small smile, continuing to sing the song. They both sang together a beautiful melody never breaking eye contact once.

After they were finished, Leaf felt her breath caught in her throat. She broke eye contact and looked back down at the paper.

"I think Hannah is going to love this," she said, slightly out of breath.

Hannah was outside on her front porch, staring at a photo of her and Gary together. She knew they had to break up. She couldn't lie to herself anymore. She heard footsteps in front of her, making her look up to see the intruder. She didn't say anything and just stared at him waiting for him to talk.

Gary had his own guitar strapped against his shoulders. He honestly had no idea what he should say to Hannah. He knew nothing excused what he did. So he voiced what was in his heart.

"I was going to call, but then I realized that it's probably better to apologize in person. I'm really sorry that I haven't called all week—"

"You know, I really don't feel like talking to you right now," Hannah said interrupting his speech. She looked back down at the photo in her hand.

Gary walked a couple of steps on her porch sitting down right in front of her.

"Then please just listen to me," he asked her in a slight pleading tone.

She didn't say anything. She looked back up to stare at him while he spoke.

"I know that I was driving you away. And sometimes I don't even mean to. But you have to understand how hard this is for me. Being in love with you scares the shit out of me because I have never felt this way before. So I really don't know what to think or know exactly how I'm supposed to react. All I know is that I want to be with you," he admitted, finishing his speech.

Hannah placed the picture on the table and leaned forward to grab his hand.

"Then please stop running from me," she spoke, voicing her own fear as well.

Gary brushed a piece of hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek gently with his other hand.

"I promise you. I'll stop," he said softly, kissing her on the forehead, moving down to kiss her lips.

* * *

The next day Leaf was at the beach waiting for Gary to arrive. They had made plans to go surfing, but he was running a bit late. She didn't mind though, knowing it was Gary and he usually always arrives late to things.

She was slowly walking down the beach from where she had placed her board. She was taking in the cool breeze of the wind, making her nose smell the mist of the ocean. The beach wasn't as packed as it usually was surprisingly. There were a couple of kids building a sandcastle near where she was and a few other people just scattered around the beach enjoying their time. She started to walk back to where her board was, thinking maybe Gary was waiting for her over there.

As she was walking back she felt someone ram right into her, knocking her over and onto the kid's sandcastle they were building. They all didn't really care at the moment, because they found much more interest in burying their friend in the sand instead.

Leaf groaned in annoyance, "What the hell?" she looked up and saw Gary with a sheepish look on his face. "Ugh! Gary Oak, I hate you!" she whined dramatically, holding out her hand for him to help her up.

Gary grabbed onto her hand and pulled her up without any effort.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure you're still in love with me," he said with a cocky smirk.

Leaf rolled her eyes, letting go of his hand to brush off the excess sand off of her.

"Yeah. Well, it's wearing pretty damn thin," she spat bitterly.

Gary let out a loud snort and pushed her playfully, "We both know that's not true."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now, Gary," she stated, glaring at him in annoyance.

He continued to laugh at the bitter expression on her face.

What they both failed to notice was someone standing not too far away from them with unreadable expression on her face as she watched the both of them interact.

An old lady happened to stop right next to her, looking to where Hannah was looking.

"Young love. Isn't it one of the most beautiful things you have ever seen?" she admitted with a small nostalgic smile.

Hannah looked at the old lady and grimaced softly at her before walking down slowly to where the two were chatting.

"So are we gonna go surfing or what?" she asked loudly, interrupting the moment between them.

They both looked her way. Gary had an apologetic look on his face, while Leaf had an passive face not really surprised that Hannah was there.

Gary looked back at Leaf, "Oh Leafy. I forgot to tell you that I invited Hannah. I hope that's okay," he asked nervously.

Leaf shook her head, forcing a smile at him.

"No it's okay. It's totally fine with me," she said looking back and forth between him and Hannah.

Hannah smiled at her sweetly, and took a couple of steps forward.

"That's great! Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get out there!" she spoke with dry excitement.

Gary smirked at the both of them, waving them off. "Alright. Well I'll meet you girls out there!" he shouted, grabbing his board and running into the ocean.

It was a bit awkward for a few seconds with the girls. Leaf went to grab her board, but before she could head out into the ocean Hannah started talking to her.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked with a slight jealous tone.

Leaf didn't say anything. She avoided eye contact with Hannah's intense blue eyes.

Hannah snorted, "Of course you do. I can see it in your eyes. You're in love with him."

Before Leaf could reply they both saw Gary have a pretty bad wipe out, as he struggled to stand up in the shallow water.

"GARY!" Leaf screamed as she let go of her board, running towards him.

"GARY!" Hannah screamed as well her eyes were wide with fear and ran towards him, following Leaf.

Leaf pulled him up, trying to help him stand up straight.

"Are you alright?" she asked in a worried tone.

He shook his hair, flipping his long reddish brown hair out of his face. He looked down at Leaf, him being a couple of inches taller than her.

"Yeah, I'm completely fine Leafy. Just a wipe out. That's all," he said slightly out of breath.

Hannah grabbed onto his arm, with a look of relief on her face.

"It's good to hear you're okay, baby. That was scary," she said with a frown.

Leaf nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah. I don't know what I would have done if you had gotten hurt."

Gary grinned at the both of them, still staring at Leaf though.

"Oh c'mon, I'd find a way to stay with you. You're my best friend Leafy. If I was dying, I'd fight until I saw you again."

Leaf let out a small laugh and Hannah looked between the both of them with a frown. She tightened her grip onto Gary's arm.

"But you're not dying, so we don't have to worry about that!" she interrupted again with a nervous laugh.

Gary turned to look down at Hannah with a look of confusion.

"I'm sorry. I just don't want to picture ever loosing you. That physically breaks my heart just to think about. I just love you so much," she said sincerely, her eyes starting to water.

Gary wrapped his arm around her waist, rubbing her lower back to soothe her.

"I love you too," he replied softly, gently kissing her forehead.

Hannah smiled up at him, leaning up to kiss him on the lips.

Leaf gulped slowly. She had a guilty expression on her face as she looked back down at her feet. She wasn't really in the mood to see their public display of affection. It made her sick to her stomach.

* * *

A couple of days later after the beach incident. Leaf had been thinking a lot about Hannah's words. She honestly didn't know how she didn't realize her own feelings before.

She sat on her bed waiting for her best friend to come over. Once she figured out her feelings she started to have a panic attack. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with Gary. They have been best friends since they were kids. And she definitely didn't want to ruin his relationship with Hannah. She would never forgive herself if she made them unhappy. But here she was, stuck in situation she didn't know how to deal with.

Her best friend Dawn walked in her room without knocking, shutting the door behind her. She threw her bag on the ground and plopped down on the bed next to an emotionless Leaf.

"Alright. I'm here. What's the big emergency?" she asked her troubled friend.

Leaf felt her eyes start to water and she rubbed at them furiously. She absolutely refused to cry. Especially over this dramatic situation. She looked at her best friend with a confused expression.

"I think I might…possibly…have feelings for Gary…" she admitted quietly.

Dawn gave her an amused look. Like she already knew before Leaf finally realized.

"Possibly?" she asked, raising her eyebrow.

Leaf didn't say anything and looked down at her hands. She started to twirl her fingers around, wanting to avoid this conversation and her life all together.

Dawn let out a sigh and elbowed Leaf's leg. "Come on now. You have liked him for as long as I can remember," she said, voicing the truth of Leaf's feelings.

Leaf gave her a friend a look of annoyance, knowing she was right.

"You probably just stopped to realize how much he actually does mean to you. Because deep down, it's something you've always known," Dawn said, finishing her rant.

Leaf grimaced at her and sniffled loudly. Tears started to form in her eyes again.

"Whatever feelings I had or have for him, those don't really matter now. Because he loves **her** now."

Dawn sat up and pulled her best friend into a tight hug. She rubbed her back trying to console her crying friend.

* * *

"I'm so screwed! I don't even want to meet her parents!" Gary shouted in desperation.

He was at his best friend Ash's house. Venting to him and his other good friend Paul. Gary called Paul over because he needed both of them there to help him figure out what he should do.

Paul was watching Ash lose at a video game, and he growled in annoyance when he heard Gary start to whine again.

"And why not?" he asked him.

Gary plopped down on the couch next to him, "Because meeting the parents, that's a step towards being serious. And I don't know if I really want to be that serious with Hannah."

Paul rolled his eyes and leaned forward to grab the remote out of Ash's hands. When Ash whined he shot a glare at him, shutting him up in the process. He started a new game of Battlefield and voiced his own opinion.

"You know telling someone you love them is kind of serious," he admitted obviously.

Ash hummed in agreement, joining in on the conversation.

"Yeah and it probably doesn't help that you have been telling her you do," he said, glancing at his longtime friend.

"Shut up," Gary spat with a glare.

"Oi, don't get mad at him when he's only admitting what you can't. It's simple, clearly you don't love her like you thought you did," Paul jumped in defending Ash.

Gary snorted, "Since when are you on the same side as Ash?"

"Since the day you became more of an idiot than him," Paul stated bluntly.

"Hey! I'm not that big of an idiot!" Ash whined in annoyance.

"Didn't you put a pizza in the oven 20 minutes ago?" Paul asked him with a smirk.

Ash's eyes widened at the realization, "Shit!" he screamed, running downstairs to the kitchen to take out the burnt pizza.

Gary let out a loud snort and Paul joined in chuckling at their dense friend.

* * *

Later that day, Gary was at home on the phone with his girlfriend.

"Listen Hannah, I don't think that I'll be able to come tonight. I came down with the flu. And I feel horrible," he said, pretending to have a scratchy voice. Faking a couple of coughs for emphasis.

Hannah had a frown on her face. She couldn't believe this. Especially tonight he had to do this.

"You're really cancelling on me the night you're supposed to meet my parents?" she asked him with a disbelieving tone.

Gary felt guilty but he couldn't back out now. He really didn't want to meet her parents. He was uncomfortable and he didn't know how he was feeling right now.

"You don't know how bad I wish I could be there," he lied smoothly, still fake coughing.

"Well, I guess if you're sick, you're sick. We can do this another night…" she said with a sad sigh.

"I'm really sorry again. But I should really get some rest…" he told her.

"Okay. Feel better." And with that she hung up the phone.

She looked at her parents who were in the kitchen prepping dinner.

"He's not coming because he has the flu," she told them sadly.

"Well, sweetheart why don't you take a bowl of our famous chicken soup and that should get him back on his feet!" Her father said, wrapping an arm around his daughter.

* * *

"What am I doing here, Gary?" Leaf asked her best friend. He told her to come over because it was urgent even though she hasn't really been in the mood to really hang out with him.

Gary frowned at her, "What do you mean?" he asked her in confusion.

She raised an eyebrow at him, making herself more comfortable on his couch.

"Shouldn't you be at Hannah's right now?" she asked him, wondering why he was here and not there.

"She cancelled on me. Something about taking things too fast," he said with a slight roll of his eyes, leaning forward to grab the DVDs he picked out for them to watch.

Leaf stared at him strangely, "That doesn't even make any sense. She's the one who wanted you over in the first place and then she just cancels?" she asked him, feeling like a piece of the story was missing.

Gary felt panic struck through him, knowing that Leaf might figure out he is lying. So he quickly changed the subject.

"You know I don't really care about that right now because I have all the Saw movies and we are going to watch them all tonight!" he said, grinning devilishly at her.

Leaf let out a laugh and pushed Gary lightly. "Well what are you waiting for? Turn them on Oak!"

An hour or two goes by and they are finishing up one of the movies. Leaf was watching intently while Gary was curled up in a ball, laying his head on her lap, his hands covering his eyes.

Leaf giggled, ripping his hands off of his face, forcing him to watch the movie.

Their moment was interrupted when Hannah opened the door to his house, staring at the situation in disbelief. She dropped the chicken soup not caring that it spilled out of the container and ran out of the house.

Gary let out a loud sigh and got off the couch following Hannah.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME GARY… WE ARE SO OVER!" she screamed loudly at him.

"FOR WHAT?! LYING TO YOU ONCE?! I'M SORRY I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO YOUR STUPID DINNER! YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE AT MY HOUSE ANYWAYS!" he screamed back at her.

She turned around sharply to face him, "First of all, I was coming over to take care of you since you were SO SICK!" she shouted at him again, throwing her hands up for emphasis of how angry she was.

Gary didn't say anything. He stared at her as she continued to yell.

"And this is not about you lying to me!"

He threw his hands up in exasperation, "Then what is it about? PLEASE ENLIGHTEN ME!"

She stepped forward with a frown on her face, pushing him back violently.

"This is about you lying to **yourself**. You lied to yourself when you told me you love me. You don't love me. YOU LOVE HER" she screamed, pushing him again at the last sentence.

Gary didn't say anything again. He just looked back at the house and saw Leaf cleaning up the chicken soup off of the floor. He then glanced back down at Hannah when she started to speak again.

"But I lied to myself too because I was a fool to think that I could ever compete with her. SO TELL ME GARY. DID YOU PICTURE HER WHEN WE KISSED? OR WHEN YOU WOULD HOLD MY HAND? DID YOU ALWAYS PICTURE IT WAS HER?!" she screamed again, pushing him back again.

Gary stared down at her, letting her hit his chest repeatedly. He didn't know what to say. He didn't think he did that but maybe in the end he did. Maybe that's why he didn't feel anything whenever he said 'I love you' because he didn't really love her. But was it Leaf all along?

With one last push, "GET AWAY FROM ME. I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! GO. GO TELL HER HOW YOU FEEL. BECAUSE I'M SURE AS HELL NOT HOLDING YOU BACK ANYMORE!" she screamed at him, tears falling down her cheeks as she stepped back turning around to run away from him.

Gary walked back into his house with an emotionless look on his face. He stared at Leaf who was standing near the door with her arms crossed against her chest. She had a frown on her face.

"Are you alright?" she asked him with slight concern.

He shook his head not wanting his voice to crack if he answered.

She let out a huge sigh and pulled him in for a tight hug. "I think I should go and give you space…"

He pulled away from the hug, looking down at her. "What about our movie night?" he asked, his voice scratchy from screaming.

"We should do it another night. Because I'm kind of angry with you for lying to me about cancelling on Hannah…" she spoke with disappointment.

He felt his mouth go dry, "Did you hear what—?"

She shook her head before he could finish. "All I know was she was pretty pissed at you for lying to her and if you want her back you are going to have to go talk to her and explain whatever it is that's going through your head." And with those words, Leaf turned around and walked out the front door leaving Gary with his thoughts.

He didn't want to get back with Hannah. He thought he wanted to be with Hannah, but seeing Leaf leave his house made him have a heavy heart. He felt terrible that he lied to her. He felt terrible that he lied to himself for so long. He couldn't tell her his realization though. It would just ruin everything.

* * *

A couple of days go by and Hannah was sitting at a local coffee shop on the docks of the beach. She glanced up when saw the person she had been waiting for.

"Thanks for meeting me here," she told her with a grimace on her features.

"Yeah…sure… what's up?" Leaf asked, feeling hesitant for being here.

"I want to start off by apologizing to you…I acted childish towards you because of my jealousy…" she said feeling regretful of her actions.

Leaf shook her head, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Well I wasn't exactly whipping out the welcome mat…" she joked lightly.

Hannah felt tears start to sting her eyes as she wiped them away before they could fall. She bit the inside of her jaw.

"He really loves you, you know…" she started speaking.

Leaf's eyebrows raised with surprise.

Hannah continued, "It was something that I tried to ignore, but every time he looked me in the eyes, I was disappointed. Because he never looked at me the way he looks at you," she said now looking at her with a painful expression.

Leaf felt uncomfortable. She didn't know what to make out of this. If this were really true, then why didn't Gary come to her himself? Weren't they best friends? Couldn't they talk about things like this, or was it just too hard?

"Hannah, why are you telling me all of this?" she asked, wondering why she is even being nice to her in the first place.

"Because if I don't, nothing will happen. Let's face it, you would never tell Gary how you feel and he cherishes your friendship too much to ever tell you how he feels. And then one of you will try to move on and the other will be completely miserable. I don't think we really need anyone else with a broken heart," she told her with a bitter laugh.

Leaf stayed quiet for a couple of seconds, pondering her words. She stared at her seeing the painful look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry that you had to be the one to get hurt…I never meant for any of this to happen…" she apologized to Hannah feeling sorry for her. She knows how it feels to watch the person you love, love someone else. If she admitted it to herself she's been doing it for years with all the girls Gary has dated.

Hannah nodded and got up from her chair, walking away from Leaf completely.

Leaf let out a huge sigh and headed back to her house. She hasn't talked to Gary in a couple of days. At first she was mad, but now she just feels like she doesn't deserve to be with him. What they both did to Hannah was just wrong. Leaf felt sick to her stomach for even having feelings for him.

Once she opened the door to her bedroom she saw Gary sitting there on her bed with window was opened. He must have climbed through their balcony since their rooms were right across from each other.

She threw her jacket on her desk and they had a staring contest for a brief moment until she broke the silence.

"What are you doing here, Gary?"

He stood up from her bed, "Why have you been ignoring me?"

"What do you want me to say? I'm sorry?" she said, letting out a bitter laugh as she folded her arms across her chest.

"No. I want you to tell me what the hell I did wrong and how I can fix it. Because frankly I've been driving myself insane trying to figure out what I did to you. So if I did something wrong just tell me," he said, taking a step towards her.

Leaf stared at him with a passive expression. "You fell in love with me."

Gary stared at her in disbelief, "I don't understand…"

Leaf felt tears starting to form in her eyes, "This isn't how it's supposed to be. You're supposed to be my best friend. You can't love me," she told him with a painful crack in her voice.

Gary let out a loud scoff and took another step closer to her.

"What? Are you asking me to go and move on? Find someone else? Because I already tried that. I could fall madly in love with them but at the end of the day, whenever I picture forever, it's always with you. It's always been you. I love you, Leafy. And I can never change that."

Leaf felt her heart burst from what he was saying, but she couldn't be with him. She felt like didn't deserve to be with him.

"I'm sorry… I just can't, Gary. I can't be in love with you," she told him as tears streamed down her cheeks.

She turned to leave her room but before she could go Gary took a hold of her hand, pulling her to him, cupping her cheeks with his hands. He slowly wiped her tears.

"Leafy. Please. Don't go. You love me. I know you do," he told her with slight desperation.

She pushed him back and stepped back towards her door.

"If you really love me, you'll let me go."

Gary couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He shook his head and walked out of her room, slamming the front door in the process.

* * *

Dawn was sitting at the end of the dock. Her feet were hanging down, but she was too short for them to touch the ocean. It was windier then normal today. It was annoying how her hair just kept flying all over the place.

Leaf saw her friend sitting in their usual spot and she quickly walked over to where she was, taking a seat next to her sitting with her legs crossed.

Dawn didn't even have to turn to know who it was. She knew it was her friend by the sad aurora she was giving off.

"I don't understand you at all. He finally confesses his feelings for you and you just walk away," she spoke breaking the silence between them.

Leaf stared out into the abyss of the ocean. She took a couple of seconds before finally responding.

"I talked to Hannah a couple of days before I saw Gary."

Dawn waited for her to continue, but she didn't.

"So?" she said, wanting her to go on.

"So Gary and I really hurt her. She didn't deserve that at all. All she ever did was love him," she stated truthfully with an empathetic expression on her face.

Dawn waited again to see if Leaf would say more, letting out a huge sigh when she didn't.

"And?" she asked again, wanting Leaf to get to the point.

Leaf let out a groan but replied nonetheless, "And I just couldn't tell him how I really feel because I know exactly how it feels to watch the person you love, love someone else. No one should have to experience that…" she admitted, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"If you really care about Gary at all, then you wouldn't let someone else come between you two. No matter what the circumstance is. Leaf, you have been waiting for this moment for 10 years. Are you really going to throw it all away because of how Hannah feels?" Dawn explained, feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything going on.

Leaf stay quiet again, replaying Dawn's words over and over again. She let out a louder groan, burying her face into her hands.

"Ugh why do I always mess things up even more?"

* * *

Gary was on his front porch trying to write another song to let out all the frustration he had been feeling, but he was at a loss. He just stared blankly at nothing, spacing out from the reality.

Paul and Ash both walked over to his house. Ash sat down next to him, while Paul leaned on the column attached to the porch.

"What's with that pathetic look on your face?" Paul asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend.

Gary groaned at the lack of emotion his friend had but answered him anyways.

"I'm fine."

Ash rolled his eyes, "I don't classify screaming at your guitar all day while the neighbors complain as fine. You are clearly torn up about what happened with Leaf," he spoke, stating the obvious.

Gary growled in annoyance at his friends and placed his guitar on the other side of him.

"If you know what's wrong then why the hell do you ask?" he muttered bitterly.

"I just can't believe that you're still here," Ash told him bluntly.

Gary turned to glare at his friend, "And why is that?"

"Because you should be fighting for her, idiot." Paul spoke voicing his opinion.

"What in the world do you want me to do? She doesn't want me. I just need to move on," Gary let out hopelessly, running his fingers through his hair.

Paul let out a scoff of disbelief, "Look at how well that went the first time…"

Ash shook his head at his negative friend, "So after everything you guys have been through you're just going to give it all up? Even your friendship?"

Gary didn't know what to say. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm respecting her wishes. This is what she wants."

Paul let out another loud snort and jumped off the porch, starting to walk away. He turned around to say one more thing to Gary.

"You know after all of these years of knowing you, Gary, I've never seen you be so pathetic and give up on something you love. Especially her. But I guess there's a first time for everything. Huh?" Paul shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to take his leave. He stopped when Gary finally realized what he needed to do.

"I have to go to her. I have to do something!" Gary said in a panic as he stood up, pacing.

Paul turned around with a knowing smirk on his face.

"You know what you have to do. I already called troublesome."

Ash let out a laugh, standing up as well and following Paul's lead.

"Don't you mean your girlfriend?" Ash teased him, but groaned loudly when Paul hit him in the stomach.

Gary stared at Paul in shock, "How did you—? Thanks…" he spoke with a wide grin on his face.

* * *

Later that evening, Dawn and Leaf were on their way to an open mic night. Dawn had talked to Paul earlier that day to come up with a plan to get them together or at least talking again, and surprisingly Paul had suggested the idea. Dawn was all for it and made an excuse saying that she was going to sing tonight, so she could get Leaf to come.

"You are going to kill it tonight," Leaf told her friend with a small exciting smile.

"I hope so. I'm glad you came tonight. I think you could use a night out," she responded, nudging her friend playfully.

"Yeah, I really did need this. Thanks for being such a good friend."

Dawn smiled at her sweetly and felt someone wrap their arms around her from behind. Knowing the familiar scent of cologne, she leaned back while he buried his face into her neck.

Leaf smiled at the interaction, waving briefly to the tall male.

"Hi Paul," she greeted and let out a tiny laugh when he hummed in response.

Ash was following behind Paul holding hands with a red head, someone she hasn't seen around before.

"Hey Dawn! Leaf! I want to introduce you to my girlfriend Misty. She actually just moved here from Cerulean City."

Leaf and Dawn both smiled genuinely at her and introduced themselves.

"It's really nice to meet you guys. I wonder who else is performing tonight," Misty spoke.

"Yeah, me too. Hey Dawn don't you have to go back—" Before Leaf could finish the announcer had cut her off, starting the show.

"Hey how you doing everybody? I'm DJ and I'll be your host for tonight. We got some really great acts tonight!" he shouted at the audience, making them 'woo' and cheer.

"So to start us off, we have an original artist performing a self-composed piece called Critical. Give it up everybody for Gary Oak!" he screamed again, walking off the stage when he was finished.

Leaf dropped her jaw in shock and looked at Dawn incredulously. Dawn had given Leaf a sheepish smile, shrugging her shoulders. While Paul smirked at her victoriously still holding onto his girlfriend.

Leaf then looked at Ash and his girlfriend Misty to see if they had anything to do with this and they both shrugged their shoulders as well.

When Gary started to speak into the microphone, Leaf turned her attention back onto him.

"So I'd like to dedicate this original song to the girl that I'm in love with. Leaf Green, if you're out there this one is for you."

Leaf felt her heartbeat speed up when he started playing. She couldn't believe this was happening right now.

* * *

 _There's a storm coming up_

 _and I gotta prepare myself._

' _Cause this feeling's_

 _getting stronger every day._

 _Something's creeping inside_

 _everything is about to change._

 _Gotta face the fact_

 _that I can't walk away._

* * *

Leaf felt her eyes start to sting as she watched her best friend play the piano, singing a song dedicated just for her. This felt like a dream that she never wanted to wake up from.

* * *

 _This is critical,_

 _I'm feeling helpess._

 _So hysterical, this can't be healthy._

* * *

Dawn saw the huge smile on her best friend's lips and she tightened her grip onto Paul's arms, making him look down at her in confusion. Once he saw what she was looking at he had tightened his hold on her whispering his own love for her.

* * *

 _I can't eat or sleep_

 _when you're not with me._

 _Baby, you're the air I breathe._

 _This is critical, yeah._

 _So stuck on you_

* * *

After the performance had finished Gary had stood up from the piano and gave a wave to the audience while they cheered and screamed for him.

Leaf had other plans in mind though, she maneuvered her way through the crowd and walked up the steps of the stage. Once she was on the stage she ran towards him, jumping into his arms as he held her tight, spinning her around.

Once he set her down, Leaf had her arms wrapped around his neck. Looking up into his eyes she had a huge smile on her face as she spoke.

"I love you too. And I'm tired of denying it. I wasted so much time trying to convince myself that I wasn't in love with you, for the dumbest reasons. I cared too much about our friendship and what other people thought of me but you know what? None of those things matter to me anymore. And the only thing that does is standing right in front of me."

Gary had the biggest smile on his face as he pulled her closer to him.

"I love you," he said, leaning his forehead onto hers.

Leaf felt her eyes watering, she never thought this day would come where he would be saying those words to her.

"I love you more," she responded with a giggle.

Gary let out a laugh, almost bringing their mouths together.

"Not possible," he said, before pressing his lips onto hers.

When they started kissing the audience went crazy, screaming so loud she started to laugh in the kiss making him laugh as well. When they finally pulled away they both waved to the audience and slowly walked off the stage to go and meet with their friends and enjoy the rest of their night all together.

* * *

 _Everybody's talking how I, can't, cant be your love_

 _But I want, want, want to be your love_

* * *

 **A/N: Hello all. So I had this idea for a bit and decided to make a one shot. I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. I hope you all like it. Leave a review of your thoughts. Thanks :-)**

 **Jess**


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